Warning
Please note that hillwalking when there is snow lying requires an ice-axe, crampons and the knowledge, experience and skill to use them correctly. Summer routes may not be viable or appropriate in winter. See winter information on our skills and safety pages for more information.

Date walked: 02/10/2017

Time taken: 6 hours

Distance: 29 km

Ascent: 1220m

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Is it a good idea to do this hike in strong winds?

Well, I did not have a lot of days available for hiking during my vacation. After having driven for 2 hours I got to the parking. A man told me that the prediction was strong winds, 60 mph. I have hiked in strong winds before, but had no clue how strong. I was determined to give it a go. When I got closer to Lochnagar the winds were so strong that I had a hard time keeping my balance. The wind threw me back a few feet on a couple of occasions, and I spend a fair amount of time squatting down holding onto boulders. Even though the winds were strong all day, this exposed climb was the hardest part. This is on the other side of the lake looking up at Lochnagar more or less. Due to the strong wind and harsh conditions I did not check my map very often. I was not always sure which trail to take, but since it was a loop it was fairly obvious. Bear in mind that the wrecked plane is a little detour. This is something I never realized, so I did not get to see it. I hiked with a light daypack and ran quite a bit so the whole circuit took me 6 hours. I would not recommend doing this hike with the winds I had. I do not regret hiking, but would not be very keen on ever hiking again with winds that strong. I have no clue if it was 60 mph, more, or less. But it was rough even for a hard core hiker like me

Use the link bellow to check out a video that includes a few seconds of rough conditions. Starting 4 minutes into the video.